The mayor was surrounded

The neighborhood residents watched Lin Yanzhou's official car leave the dilapidated streets, hope in their eyes.

"Sir, are we heading back to the office?" the secretary asked quietly.

"Luo Yong, show us the way. We're going straight upstream along the Qingshui River to look at the source of the pollution."

Under Luo Yong's direction, the car avoided the main road and followed a bumpy service road toward the outskirts of the Guangming Peak Project.

The closer they came to the enormous construction site, the thicker and more pungent the airborne dust and faint chemical odor became. Construction barriers on both sides of the road sealed off the river channel.

The car stopped in an open area. Luo Yong got out first and strode over to a section of the barrier. With practiced ease, he moved aside a panel that looked no different from the others-it had clearly been cut open beforehand, then carefully restored as camouflage. Without close inspection, the seams were almost impossible to spot.

Pointing at the conspicuously discolored, oil-slicked river water beside him, he said to the mayor with a grave expression:

"Mayor, this is the sampling point I secretly opened up earlier. To get a handle on the situation, I've already sneaked here several times at different hours to collect water samples."

The sight before them was shocking. A river channel that should have carried clear, babbling water was now filthy and turbid, its surface covered in unidentified foam and oil. The soil along the banks had turned an unnatural blackish brown and gave off an acrid smell. Several damaged pipes extended from beneath the chemical plant, constantly spewing foul water into the river.

Chen Mo quickly took photos and videos. Lin Yanzhou crouched down, picked up a little soil from the bank with his fingers, and rubbed it between them, his brow deeply furrowed. Then he had the driver fetch a bag from the car and put it inside.

Chen Mo lowered his phone. "Sir, with a pollution source this obvious, Liu Fengming and the others must know."

Lin Yanzhou looked at Luo Yong. "If you hadn't brought me here, it seems the Environmental Protection Bureau's assessment report would have been nothing but going through the motions."

Luo Yong pointed toward the barrier. "Mayor, this used to be a state-owned chemical plant. Several attempts to restructure it failed. After Secretary Dakang took office a few years ago, he pushed mixed-ownership reform for state-owned enterprises and brought in a private chemical company. They probably figured demolition was coming and started discharging chemical wastewater without restraint."

Just then, two black sedans sped over and stopped abruptly behind their car. Several men in Guangming Peak Project Headquarters uniforms and security uniforms quickly got out and surrounded them, their expressions hostile.

"What are you doing here? This is a key construction area. No unauthorized personnel. Leave at once!" barked the man in front, who looked like a foreman, his wary gaze sweeping over Lin Yanzhou and his vehicle.

At first glance, he felt that this middle-aged man carried an imposing presence, even more so than the leaders who often inspected the project department. Yet he had arrived in an ordinary domestic car with an unremarkable license plate. Unable to gauge his background, the man spoke fiercely but instinctively held back from going too far.

The driver hurried out and joined Secretary Chen Mo and Luo Yong in shielding Lin Yanzhou behind them.

Chen Mo stepped forward. "We're municipal government staff conducting a routine work inspection."

"The municipal government?" The leader froze for a moment, then reined in his attitude slightly, though he remained forceful. "Sorry, sir, but this area falls under the jurisdiction of our Guangming Peak Headquarters. Any inspection requires a letter to our Guangming Peak Project Department General Office in advance. For your safety, please leave immediately."

His words sounded polite, but they were actually an order to leave, even carrying a hint of an unquestionable threat.

Secretary Chen Mo calmly surveyed the men. "Since when have municipal government officials needed to send a letter to the Guangming Peak Project Headquarters to carry out their duties within their own jurisdiction?"

With Lin Yanzhou behind him, he was brimming with confidence. Though his voice was not loud, it carried an authority that needed no anger, leaving the project department men momentarily speechless.

"Sir, the Guangming Peak Project Department was established under Secretary Dakang's leadership, with Mayor Ding Yizhen, a member of the Jingzhou City Municipal Party Standing Committee, serving as commander-in-chief. The project department's office staff are based at the Guangming District Comprehensive Governance Office, so letters have always been sent to Guangming District. Please don't misunderstand. We made this rule mainly out of safety considerations," the petty supervisor tried to explain.

"Safety?" Luo Yong sneered and pointed at the wastewater flowing behind him. "This is what you call safety?"

The moment Chen Mo heard Luo Yong say that, he sensed serious trouble. He immediately signaled to the driver, Wu Jun, to prepare to leave.

The other side had strength in numbers and a belligerent attitude. With Luo Yong bringing the issue into the open now, they certainly would not let them leave.

His foremost duty as secretary was to guarantee the mayor's absolute safety. Nothing was more important.

The driver, Wu Jun, surveyed the scene. Although the other side outnumbered them, to a former special forces soldier tempered in actual combat, they were nothing but a motley mob. He was absolutely confident he could drop several of them in an instant.

Yet his battlefield instincts told him that he could not take the slightest risk with the mayor's safety. Any prolonged struggle could lead to an unforeseen accident.

Receiving Chen Mo's signal, Wu Jun did not hesitate. Using his body as a moving bulwark, he positioned himself precisely between Lin Yanzhou and the security guards, forming a protective barrier.

He shielded Lin Yanzhou with one hand and guided him toward the car door, ensuring that Lin Yanzhou could get inside as quickly and safely as possible.

Seeing them about to leave, the petty supervisor remembered that Chen Mo had filmed the wastewater on his phone. He stepped forward to block them, his tone hardening. "Delete the videos and photos on your phone. You can only leave after we've checked it, understood? This is a key project area. Photography and filming are prohibited under the regulations!"

The security guards behind him immediately closed in as well, forming a semicircle around them. In an instant, swords were drawn and bows bent.

Chen Mo's expression darkened. "We are municipal government staff conducting a lawful official inspection. You have no authority to inspect our personal devices!"

"The municipal government? Who knows if you're genuine! Even if you are, you still have to follow the project department's rules! This rule was made by Mayor Ding Yizhen of the municipal government himself!"

Relying on Ding Yizhen's backing, the petty supervisor instantly grew arrogant and actually reached out to snatch the phone from Chen Mo's hand.

Just as the two sides began shoving each other, an unquestionable voice rang out:

"Enough."

Lin Yanzhou, who had remained silent throughout, finally spoke. He did not raise his voice, but the imposing presence he unleashed brought every noisy voice and movement at the scene to a halt.

Lin Yanzhou stared at the petty supervisor. "Since Ding Yizhen ordered this enforced, call Ding Yizhen. I, Lin Yanzhou, will wait for him here."

Looking at Lin Yanzhou, the petty supervisor involuntarily took a step back. He did not know why, but something inside kept telling him that this man was not to be provoked.

Without waiting for a response, Lin Yanzhou continued, ordering Chen Mo, "Notify Zhao Donglai at the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Tell him I want to see him here within fifteen minutes. If he can't make it, have him submit his resignation to the Municipal Party Committee himself tomorrow."

No sooner had he finished speaking than urgent, overlapping police sirens suddenly sounded in the distance!

Several police vehicles sped toward them, including two SWAT armored vehicles. Before the vehicles had fully stopped, more than a dozen fully armed SWAT officers and police officers quickly disembarked and secured the scene, placing Lin Yanzhou's group at the center of an absolutely safe protective cordon.

Leading them was Cheng Du, chief of the Jingzhou City Public Security Bureau Guangming Branch. Fine beads of sweat dotted his temples, and his expression was tense yet unusually resolute. He jogged up to Lin Yanzhou, stood at attention, and saluted:

"Reporting to the mayor! Cheng Du of the Guangming Branch Bureau, reporting for duty! Awaiting your instructions!"

Cheng Du had been able to arrive so quickly because the driver had quietly notified the Guangming Branch Bureau when the shoving began.

Cheng Du and his colleagues had an unwritten internal rule: the contact details of every newly appointed leader's driver were carefully kept on file. On the leader's first day in office, they established contact with the driver and registered the license plates of vehicles regularly used by the leader and his family, ensuring there would be no traffic-violation mix-ups or similar blunders.

When Cheng Du received the driver's urgent message, he was nearly frightened out of his wits. He immediately led the nearest SWAT unit over at full speed himself.

Lin Yanzhou looked at Cheng Du, gave a slight nod, and then got into the car.

Seeing the mayor nod at him, Cheng Du was inwardly ecstatic. Once the mayor got into the car, he immediately walked over to the door and stood at attention, faithfully guarding him.